Fashion hazards: Some wardrobe trends can be downright harmful to your health

7:36 AM,
Aug. 28, 2013

Woman wearing a corset

Written by

Maria Sonnenberg
| For FLORIDA TODAY

Actress Octavia Spencer is obviously a brilliant woman, given her Academy Award-winning portrayal of the outspoken Minny in "The Help," yet Spencer has publicly admitted to squeezing into not one, not two, but three layers of shapewear, the 21st century's version of the corset, just to look slimmer. She looked good, but she didn't feel that great with all that constriction.

Spencer is not the only victim of fashion, of course, since for thousands of years otherwise smart men and women have been putty in the hands of clothing trends, often to the physical detriment of their bodies.